As much of a dumpster fire as this season has been for the Edmonton Oilers, there was at least a hint of anticipation as fans dutifully filed into Rexall Place to begin the stretch drive against the Minnesota Wild after three weeks off for the Olympic break. Should have known better.

Rather than come back with some gusto and jump in a stretch that will see the Oilers play 15 of their final 22 games at home, they served up another feeble and indifferent display for the hometown faithful, collectively shrugging their shoulders in a half-hearted, half-assed 3-0 loss to the Wild.

Fans who arrived with at least a hint of hope the Oilers might finish off this mess of 2013-14 with enthusiasm and maybe a win here or there after a tidy roll before the break, were booing by the final buzzer at the Oilers were shut out for the fifth time at home this season, dropping to 10-15-2 at the Rex.

The power play has fallen and it can't get up. There was next-to-no flow on the attack. Ben Scrivens didn’t look particularly sharp. Worst of all, the give-a-damn meter appeared to be as low as it's been all season, save for some nastiness from Matt Hendricks and Luke Gazdic.

Played like their heads and hearts were still on the beach somewhere warm, did the Oilers. The only grit was the sand in their shorts.

NOT CLOSE TO GOOD ENOUGH

When a team has been as bad as long as the Oilers have, virtually every angle involving personnel, team chemistry, coaching and the X's and O's has been exhausted. The power play, at least this 1-3-1 version of it, is brutal. There are holes throughout the lineup front and back. The defense isn’t good enough. All this we know. More fodder for these last days before the trade deadline.

One ongoing glaring deficiency – far from the only one -- that stood out for me in this game was the lack of push-back from the Oilers, the unwillingness to back each other up. The all-for-one, one-for-all mentality most successful teams show consistently. Big problem.

That was illustrated best as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall were getting knocked around near the Minnesota goal by Keith Ballard and Matt Cooke. Out near the blue line stood Jeff Petry and Anton Belov, two of the biggest players on the ice. And that's where they stayed as Ballard cuffed RNH and Hall had a brief altercation with Cooke. They watched.

I'm not foolish enough to think having Petry and Belov wade in and kick some backside, or at least show up, in that circumstance comes anywhere near close to addressing the many needs of this team, but showing opponents they don’t get a free pass in that situation would solve one of them – the lack of will to play and stand up for each other.

I'm not suggesting GM Craig MacTavish go on a thug hunt at the deadline or over the summer, but while he's looking for another defenseman or two and some size that can play in the top-six up front, find a player or two who isn’t so ready to turn the other cheek -- as too many players on this roster now are.

Culture change? Let's start with MacTavish getting some players who are as sick of losing as the fans who filed in to watch yet another no-show by a team that keeps talking the talk but refuses to walk the walk.

Enough already.

Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.

A sports writer since 1983, including stints at The Edmonton Journal and The Sun 1989-2007, I happily co-host the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260 twice a week and write when so inclined. Have the best damn lawn on the internet. Most important, I am Sam's dad. Follow me on Twitter at Robin_Brownlee. Or don't.

Went to the game last night (thankfully someone else paid for the duckets) - it was even more horrible than you saw if you watched on tv.

The ONLY thing to cheer for all night were Wickenheiser and Szabados - great reaction from them.

Worst player on the ice, and it wasn't close, was Belov - completely useless, clueless, fell down about 5 times, whiffed on a shot and a pass at least.

But Belov sucks, so who cares?

Second worst, especially with respect to give a damn....Eberle. Horrid. No effort, no heart (and probably another major organ as well) - just horrific to watch a supposed 'star' completely go through the motions.

I don't get it. What do Oiler fans expect ? Oilers have been the worst team in the NHL for the last 8 years. Why should any fan expect better results. This is who they are and have been for a long time. A good game is a aberration for the Oilers.

It's great to know that people are Dallas Eakins for who he is. He's a lousy coach who's not right for this group. Bold Moves was itching so badly to do something that he made his worst move to start his tenure by firing Krueger. They will have to fire Eakins at some point. This team will not win with him.

A half full arena for the remainder of the season might get someone's attention.
Until then, forget about anything changing. If you're paying $ for tickets and beer & popcorn & jerseys you're sending a clear message:

"WE'RE NOT PISSED OFF YET"

You're forgetting that most of those tickets were sold before last year's draft, in the form of season seat renewals.

Check out the Ticket Exchange link on the Oilers website and you will find many seasons ticket holders' seats listed for resale below cost and well below ticket face values (less than half price in most cases). Season seat holders are already sending a message by taking a loss when listing their tickets.

4 different coaches with the same type of team with the same holes equals zero success. Why does everyone think the 5th coach is the answer?

Fix the team, fill the holes and give a coach, any coach a fighting chance to succeed.

Firing the coach for not winning with this team is like firing a Formula 1 driver for not winning while driving a Pinto.

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

Oilers definition of insanity: firing coach after coach with the same team makeup and expecting different results.

Fix the team, worry about the coach later.

Are you freaking serious man? Same players from last year and new coach but statistically this team is worst in PP, PK, goals against dead last and 2nd worst in NHL in points. Oilers got shut out 8 games this year, 5 lost at home by shut out. Who's to blame but the coach? People paid to see this crap? Lose games but at least score some goals so people can cheer to something.

8 Years and counting!!!! At this rate a Decade will have passed and the fans will still be fed the same old garbage from management,the focus will now change to the New arena to divert the mess that we have on the ice,coaching,scouting etc etc etc...

Totally think you're right about the culture change Robin. The problem I see is how difficult it is to bring in the right players to create that change. I believe they thought they were doing that by bringing in guys like Nick Schultz, Andrew Ference, Boyd Gordon and David Perron but that doesn't seem to be working.

That apathy grows every year and these character guys seem to fall into this pit along with the kids.

If a Culture Change is going to come it has to be from players who will lead the team. Unfortunately that now means Hall, Nuge, and Eberle. I say unfortunately because I don't think they're ready to take on that responsibility which means it is time to find an appropriate leader and if it means trading one of those three then that's the cost of taking the next step forward.

Oilers emailed me yesterday about purchasing tix for the remaining games. I told them after 25+ years of supporting/defending the team I was done and would not return until significant changes were made at the top.

Turned down free tix again last night. Heading to Minnesota next week and will be taking in the Wild/Flames game. Not sure how I will react seeing two teams that actually compete.

Time to move to Rebuild 2.0. The first attempt has already been wasted, the second coming of the Boys on the Bus has been an illusion. What a disappointment this team has been, and even more disappointing is that the owner will trust this same group to have another go at getting it right...

I guess if management is learning from their mistakes, they should be the smartest men in hockey now, right? What a joke... Honestly, at this point I'd be happy to see a guy like Brian Burke come in and shake this team up. Seems almost fitting considering how much ol' Six Rings feuded with the guy and talked such a big game about how his team was run. Who's laughing now?

I had to chuckle every time I saw Lowe in Team Canada's "brain trust" box at the Olympic. How could they take the guy seriously give the state of team he has handcrafted for a decade?!? Thanks for all the super helpful ideas Kevin, but we've got this...

Sad state for the franchise... Getting to home games while I was living in Edmonton 15 years ago was awesome, the atmosphere was electric and it was a blast cheering for our plucky underdogs who could slay the giants on any given night with their blue collar effort and speed. Going to a game now seems like it would just be the start of a bad night. I don't know why fans are paying or even showing up, considering their team isn't showing up. The fans in the stands just kind of look like schmucks at this point. Brutal. Thanks Kevin and Darryl.

Went to the game last night (thankfully someone else paid for the duckets) - it was even more horrible than you saw if you watched on tv.

The ONLY thing to cheer for all night were Wickenheiser and Szabados - great reaction from them.

Worst player on the ice, and it wasn't close, was Belov - completely useless, clueless, fell down about 5 times, whiffed on a shot and a pass at least.

But Belov sucks, so who cares?

Second worst, especially with respect to give a damn....Eberle. Horrid. No effort, no heart (and probably another major organ as well) - just horrific to watch a supposed 'star' completely go through the motions.

I disagree on Belov, he had his moments but he also made some good passes and laid a couple big clean hits in open ice. The worst players on the team last night were Hall and Ference with a side of Eberle. Hall turned the puck over more than a drunken Nail Yakupov, who ironically was the best player on that line last night.

Everyone knows Hall turns the puck over, he has been doing it forever. The difference is he usually counter-balances that by generating offense and scoring goals. Last night he did not generate a single decent chance but turned the puck over at a high rate. Eberle looked like he was on the outdoor rink with his toe drags. Sorry Jordan, those dont always work in the NHL, especially while you move at 2 MPH when attempting it. Ference was just as bad, he looked small and unsure of himself. I am worried about his age & contract length as he is IMO a 5-6 dman on what is arguably the worst defense in the nhl.

It's great to know that people are Dallas Eakins for who he is. He's a lousy coach who's not right for this group. Bold Moves was itching so badly to do something that he made his worst move to start his tenure by firing Krueger. They will have to fire Eakins at some point. This team will not win with him.

Mr. Gregor does not think that Eakins is the problem. He says that Dallas just needs to hire an experienced NHL coach as his assistant. Get with the program!

Are you freaking serious man? Same players from last year and new coach but statistically this team is worst in PP, PK, goals against dead last and 2nd worst in NHL in points. Oilers got shut out 8 games this year, 5 lost at home by shut out. Who's to blame but the coach? People paid to see this crap? Lose games but at least score some goals so people can cheer to something.

So the wors goals against is Eakins fault? He doesn't stop the puck. Every time the Oilers get shut out is Eakins fault? He doesn't score the goals.

PP, yeah its 3.5% lower than last year but the Oilers have taken the second most penalties while on the PP whcih kills your actual PP opportunities. Eakins doesn't take penalties.

Does the coach tell the players to make drop passes at the blue line or make high risk passes and lose posession?

PK, less than 2% lower than last year, think goaltending may have had something to do with that? How about losing your top PK guy in Horcoff? Last year 1 defenceman was not an NHL veteran, this year Belov, Marincin, Larsen, Fedun and Hunt.

You say "score some goals so people can cheer to something" does the coach score the goals?

You say 2nd worst in points this year.....compared to worst, worst, 2nd worst and 6th worst the last 4 years? I guess coach changes each year really helped that!!

Scotty Bowman would not make this team a playoff contender. A coach is only as good as its players.

Look at Dan Bylsma, PIT coach. Everyone says he is a great coach, but he has an awesome team. Babcock schooled him as a coach in the Olymics. The team has more to do with the success of a coach than the abilities of the coach.

Time to move to Rebuild 2.0. The first attempt has already been wasted, the second coming of the Boys on the Bus has been an illusion. What a disappointment this team has been, and even more disappointing is that the owner will trust this same group to have another go at getting it right...

I guess if management is learning from their mistakes, they should be the smartest men in hockey now, right? What a joke... Honestly, at this point I'd be happy to see a guy like Brian Burke come in and shake this team up. Seems almost fitting considering how much ol' Six Rings feuded with the guy and talked such a big game about how his team was run. Who's laughing now?

I had to chuckle every time I saw Lowe in Team Canada's "brain trust" box at the Olympic. How could they take the guy seriously give the state of team he has handcrafted for a decade?!? Thanks for all the super helpful ideas Kevin, but we've got this...

Sad state for the franchise... Getting to home games while I was living in Edmonton 15 years ago was awesome, the atmosphere was electric and it was a blast cheering for our plucky underdogs who could slay the giants on any given night with their blue collar effort and speed. Going to a game now seems like it would just be the start of a bad night. I don't know why fans are paying or even showing up, considering their team isn't showing up. The fans in the stands just kind of look like schmucks at this point. Brutal. Thanks Kevin and Darryl.

The team stunk 15 years ago too. Maybe not as bad as the last 5 years, but they were bad. This organization has been poor for a long time.

Mr. Gregor does not think that Eakins is the problem. He says that Dallas just needs to hire an experienced NHL coach as his assistant. Get with the program!

Are you serious man? Have you ever run a company or anything before? The coach teach the team, the assistants follow up with the system and the drills. Those assistants has been around since 2006 sup run, so it's not the problems. Those assistants know how the Power Play and Penalty Kill run with previous coach but they can't run those drills if Eakins want to play it his way. So they had to practice PP and PK with Eakins system (4 forwards and 1 Dman, the result is 10 short handed goals against). Oilers got shut out 8 games, 5 at home, would you pay to see that? Lose but at least score some goals so fans has something to cheer for. PP, PK and goals against are among the worst in NHL. What more proof do you need?

You can put any NHL team in Edmonton and play under Eakins, you still have a losing team. So trade away all those 1st picks, for finish last 3-4 years, is just rubbing salt on open wounds. All these writers in Oilersnation know that. Someone has the guts to say Eakins has got to go. Look at Latvia, with Canadian team $150 millions of salary barely beat them 2-1 in Olympics. Proof is that a good coach can teach the team stay competitive and with Oilers talent young group, they should win games.

Are you serious man? Have you ever run a company or anything before? The coach teach the team, the assistants follow up with the system and the drills. Those assistants has been around since 2006 sup run, so it's not the problems. Those assistants know how the Power Play and Penalty Kill run with previous coach but they can't run those drills if Eakins want to play it his way. So they had to practice PP and PK with Eakins system (4 forwards and 1 Dman, the result is 10 short handed goals against). Oilers got shut out 8 games, 5 at home, would you pay to see that? Lose but at least score some goals so fans has something to cheer for. PP, PK and goals against are among the worst in NHL. What more proof do you need?

I actually own a business and have 15 years managing expirience. Any owner or manager will tell you that the manager is only as good as the people under him. Great sales manager and terrible sales team equals poor results. A new Sales Manager and same terrible sales team still equals poor results

Smith and Bucky are part of the problem, they have not proven they bring anything to the team. A rookie coach with poor assistants is a recipie for a disaster. An associate coach with NHL coaching expirience would be very beneficial.

You seem like the type of guy who blames the tool instead of the operator.

I get it, your a disgruntled fan and deservedly so but the people who score the goals and stop the pucks need to be held accountable and not just blame the coach.

If your kid whines to get what he wants and you always give it to him he will always whine, he doesn't know any better and doesn't learn to change.

The product on the ice is so terrible I wouldn’t go even if I was given free tickets. I am so sick of being asked to believe and spend more money supporting this team. Im ready to throw in the towel, me and a couple hundred thousand other fans. Is it really going to take us boycotting the games before something happens? Does Mr. Katz allow his pharmacies to be run like this? If he did, he certainly would not be a billionaire today. Such a sad state of affairs. 25 years I have been an Oil fan and never have I felt more disgusted and disappointed with this team. The coach talks like he is coaching a different team, the GM talks of his brilliant coaching staff and all I see is a whole ton of fail.

/sigh

It’s tough being an Oiler fan.

*This didn't appear twice after posting, maybe because I had a curse word? Third time a charm?

The product on the ice is so terrible I wouldn’t go even if I was given free tickets. I am so sick of being asked to believe and spend more money supporting this team. Im ready to throw in the towel, me and a couple hundred thousand other fans. Is it really going to take us boycotting the games before something happens? Does Mr. Katz allow his pharmacies to be run like this? If he did, he certainly would not be a billionaire today. Such a sad state of affairs. 25 years I have been an Oil fan and never have I felt more disgusted and disappointed with this team. The coach talks like he is coaching a different team, the GM talks of his brilliant coaching staff and all I see is a whole ton of fail.

/sigh

It’s tough being an Oiler fan.

*This didn't appear twice after posting, maybe because I had a curse word? Third time a charm?

Probably caught by the swear or disagree-with-Brownlee filter. We spend big dough to make sure unwanted stuff like that doesn't get in.

all good pp teams have net presense. as sad as it is ryan smyth is the best on our team for that. dont blame him or the coach for that. eakins is playing the cards hes dealt. the pp system as a whole, well that could be a different story, but the personel thats out during that time isnt the problem!

He was abhorrent too. A one man show over and over. The only positive is there is at least a little TRY in him. It's misguided most of the time (the Olympics talk is more and more hilarious), but at least there seems to be some try.

reading lots of comments about oilers high paid forwards, particularly eberle. tell ya what, take rnh hall and ebs, swap them out with top line from ur la's and chicago types and whats the result? oilers would have yet another underachieving top line and the old top line would be competing as one of the best lines in the league. The answer is better d!!!lots goes on with teams other than what fans see on the ice. maybe eberles lackluster effort is a result of what happened with rnh and hall infront of the net. its not just last night but these young players need security and havent had any their entire career so far in edm. it was very nice to see push back from hall and rnh but at the same time very disheartening to see no one else jumped in. if fans feel that way i cant imagine what the players think or feel but the result definitley shows on the ice!!

Mr. Gregor does not think that Eakins is the problem. He says that Dallas just needs to hire an experienced NHL coach as his assistant. Get with the program!

The experienced assistant is not going to save this train wreck that 6Rings and Katz have created. A rookie GM and a rookie head coach couldn't have come at a worse time, in the same year at that. When you have your team regressing, you have to look at the coach. The players don't appear to believe in Eakins and that's important to note. In any organization, if there's no faith in the leadership group, it's not gonna work. If Edmonton ever makes it out of the woods, Eakins will not be the guy leading them there. At this point, I'd actually rather have MacT take the coaching reigns, as well. He was a decent coach and really this is his mess to clean up due to his hastiness.

I actually own a business and have 15 years managing expirience. Any owner or manager will tell you that the manager is only as good as the people under him. Great sales manager and terrible sales team equals poor results. A new Sales Manager and same terrible sales team still equals poor results

Smith and Bucky are part of the problem, they have not proven they bring anything to the team. A rookie coach with poor assistants is a recipie for a disaster. An associate coach with NHL coaching expirience would be very beneficial.

You seem like the type of guy who blames the tool instead of the operator.

I get it, your a disgruntled fan and deservedly so but the people who score the goals and stop the pucks need to be held accountable and not just blame the coach.

If your kid whines to get what he wants and you always give it to him he will always whine, he doesn't know any better and doesn't learn to change.

A Great Sales Manager would address the terrible sales team problem. And I doubt very much it would take more than a few months to take care of it.

If not handled, then the Sales Manager isn't so Great, nor is he likely a manager.

Looks to me that MacT blew it here. Perhaps he'll right the ship.

I thought Perron had a good game. I thought the Oiler's made more passes than they have in most games the past few seasons. I think the time I spent watching the game was a terrible waste of time.

Are you serious man? Have you ever run a company or anything before? The coach teach the team, the assistants follow up with the system and the drills. Those assistants has been around since 2006 sup run, so it's not the problems. Those assistants know how the Power Play and Penalty Kill run with previous coach but they can't run those drills if Eakins want to play it his way. So they had to practice PP and PK with Eakins system (4 forwards and 1 Dman, the result is 10 short handed goals against). Oilers got shut out 8 games, 5 at home, would you pay to see that? Lose but at least score some goals so fans has something to cheer for. PP, PK and goals against are among the worst in NHL. What more proof do you need?

I actually own a business and have 15 years managing expirience. Any owner or manager will tell you that the manager is only as good as the people under him. Great sales manager and terrible sales team equals poor results. A new Sales Manager and same terrible sales team still equals poor results

Smith and Bucky are part of the problem, they have not proven they bring anything to the team. A rookie coach with poor assistants is a recipie for a disaster. An associate coach with NHL coaching expirience would be very beneficial.

You seem like the type of guy who blames the tool instead of the operator.

I get it, your a disgruntled fan and deservedly so but the people who score the goals and stop the pucks need to be held accountable and not just blame the coach.

If your kid whines to get what he wants and you always give it to him he will always whine, he doesn't know any better and doesn't learn to change.

Regardless if he is the new sales manager and his team failed him you wouldn't want that individual around. The old boys club has to go and the only way that happens if they hire someone who has the gall to stand up and get what he wants. He is sitting back happy with thee status quo and he is the only one that can be blamed for that, which is the most discouraging thing for employers and fans. Time to go

I can recall a time when coach mac t wouldn't let his players engage in bru ha' ha's for fear of a stupid penalty...stortini,torres,and moreau weren't allowed to go but Eakins has no soldiers and he gives the green light. maybe this is mact's team vision after all.or maybe we used to care about wins. either way I long for a tough 3rd line let alone a 4th

~To be perfectly honest, this is all on the fans of the team. The woes of the Oilers begin and end with the tier 1 and tier 2 people who allegedly cheer for this team.

How can the coaches and players concentrate with all of this negative energy? Scrivens stop 60 shots, back up the Brinks truck. He lets in a couple send him back to St. Albert. Hall and Ebs are the best one day, the next day one has more turnovers than the Safeway bakery and the other needs a prosthetic set of seeds.

Can't people see? These guys are fragile 90% of them have never "worked" a day in their life. I'm sure training and working on puck handling skills is arduous but I'd give it a shot if someone paid me a couple of hundred grand to do it. Their fragile psyches can't handle the pressure of playing in Edmonton. Cold winters, fan expectations, syphilis from the girls at the Ranch. My goodness, how do they cope?

I'm pretty confident the team has bought into the new system....Suck Bad for Ekblad!

The really sad part about last night is that neither Nurse or Ekblad would have just stood there while Nuge and Hall were involved by the net. That says all you need about Petry and Belov.
Ekblad could play here next year and be our best defenceman with Nurse a close 2nd.
Does Eberle, a draft pick & a good prospect get us a solid #2 to mentor these two studs? I sure hope so or we will be drafting McDavid which isn't a bad thing if you can handle another season like this one! Thought not...

The really sad part about last night is that neither Nurse or Ekblad would have just stood there while Nuge and Hall were involved by the net. That says all you need about Petry and Belov.
Ekblad could play here next year and be our best defenceman with Nurse a close 2nd.
Does Eberle, a draft pick & a good prospect get us a solid #2 to mentor these two studs? I sure hope so or we will be drafting McDavid which isn't a bad thing if you can handle another season like this one! Thought not...

The scary part is that you are right in the fact that we're going to need to acquire a top end defenceman (and give up an Eberle or Yak) to tutor the up and comers. I shudder to think that Ference is the only real mentor out of this group. It's kind of like a blind man running a driving school.